Bullard 1

Bullard Erika
Professor Batty
English 113 B
25 February 2016
Not to Kill but to Save Humanity
Animal testing of pharmaceutical drugs has been a popular, controversial
issue we face in todays world. It is a process that had been going on for centuries for
many reasons such a developing medicine, medical treatments and surgical techniques.
Without animal testing of pharmaceutical drugs where would society be? Who wants to
buy an over the counter drug or prescription, knowing that it isnt or hasnt been tested on
animals that may cause harmful effects. The human race is very important to society and
is worth saving. Even though many people may argue animal testing of pharmaceutical
drugs can be cruel, it doesnt only benefits humans, but animals as well because they are
genetically similar, share the same illnesses, and can save many lives which makes it
justified to society.
There are several types of animals used in the laboratory for experimentation.
Each year, research animals being tested on is killed by mice traps, exterminators, animal
control and shelters. Why should society care if scientist kill animals to save lives? The
various t types of animals that were used for biomedical research are rats, mice, farm
animals and primates such as chimpanzees. According to the office of technology
assessment 17- 23 million animals are used in bio medical research every year, and
95% of those animals are mice and rats. Therefore, it is not immoral because people kill

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them in their house by calling exterminators. So it is not cruel to use them for animal
testing that will benefit humans and animals.
Animals and humans are biologically similar and share the same conditions and illnesses.
In the article Zoobiquity', cardiologist Barbara Natterson stated, Animals suffer from almost all
of the diseases that human beings do, but veterinarians and physicians never talk about this," As
Barbra point out we are very similar to animals. The different type of diseases that animals and
humans suffer from is cancer, STDs, diabetes, heart diseases and many more. According to the
California Biomedical Research Association chimpanzees share about 99% of DNA with
humans and mice share 98%. Therefore it is suitable to use them as research models because we
have the same set of organs that function similarly in the reproductive system.
When performing tests of pharmaceutical drugs, there are numerous types of
cures/ vaccines that were discovered. The different types of vaccines and treatments that
were found were insulin, polio, malaria, breast cancer, tuberculosis etc. Insulin was
discovered to save many lives of diabetics, which resulted from dogs having their
pancreases removed. Without the testing on dogs there wouldnt be no medication or
treatment for diabetes. As the American Diabetes Association states, there are 1.4
million Americans that are diagnosed each year with diabetes. Which is also the seventh
leading cause of death in the United States. Just imagine that number increasing
dramatically if we didnt have insulin. Family and friends diagnosed with diabetes,
wouldnt be here today as we speak. The California biomedical Research Association
states nearly every medical breakthrough in the last 100 years has resulted directly from
research using animals. (CBRA Fact Sheet) meaning that every cure/vaccine was
developed by animal testing.

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On the other hand the discovery of vaccines/cures benefits humans and saved
many lives. Even though scientist didnt find every cure or vaccine for the diseases. Their
getting more knowledge and better understanding of alternatives in the future. Scientist
found treatments to prevent diseases such as the polio vaccine. Polio was a very
dangerous disease in 1988 that causes many deaths. There were 350,000 cases in 1988
and dramatically decrease to 233 Casses in 2012. Hepatitis B, a vaccine that was
discovered which attacks the liver, was tested on chimpanzees. As the associated press
Texas Research chimps states, we wouldnt Have a vaccine for hepatitis B without the
chimpanzees and says the use of chimps is our best hope for finding a vaccine for
Hepatitis C .This statement indicates that if we found a vaccine for hepatitis B by using
chimpanzees. We can do the same to find a vaccine for hepatitis C. which kill 15,000
people every year in the United States. Therefore we should keep using chimpanzees for
animal testing.
Animals benefit from the result of animal testing itself l, not just humans. If
vaccines were not tested on animals, many pet owners and farm animals would die.
Millions of animals would have died from rabies, parvo virus, and anthrax. Treatments
for animals developed by using animal testing, were rabies, feline leukemia and treatment
of heartworms for dogs. Paralyze Dogs now have the ability to walk again, due to animal
testing on dogs and rodents. These vaccines have kept the animals from contracting many
different types of viruses. UCLA cardiologist, Barbra Natterson has been consulting
with the Los Angeles Zoo to help treat diseases found in animals.(David Wright) which
shows scientist care for the animals. In my opinion, without animal research, we wouldnt
be able to save animal lives, which would lead them to extinction.

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In conclusion, animal testing of pharmaceutical drugs should be justified because

it benefits not only humans but animals also. Animal testing saved many lives and
prevented the spread of diseases from getting worst. Without animal testing it is possible
for the human race to go extinct. Even though many people argue animal testing can be
cruel and cost tax payers money. Scientist saved millions of pet and farm animals. Both
humans and animals play an important role in developing cures\vaccines for diseases
which is a threat to society. Scientist dont kill animals for no reason, they help save
many lives to reproduce. It also provided scientist with new advances in the medical
field. Thanks to the method of animal testing, it helped many scientist gain more
knowledge to have a better understanding for future alternatives if possible. As a society
we should continue animal testing to help humans and evolution reproduce to prevent
extinction.

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Works cited

ProCon.org. "Animal Testing ProCon.org." ProCon.org. 10 Dec. 2015. Web. 23

Feb. 2016.
California Biomedical Research Association, "CBRA Fact Sheet: Why Are
Animals Necessary in Biomedical Research?," ca-biomed.org (accessed Oct. 15, 2013)
AnimalResearch.info, "Diseases & Research," animalresearch.info (accessed Oct.
15, 2013)
Associated Press, "Texas Research Chimps Face Retirement, Relocation,"
khou.com, July 22, 2013
David Wright, Cole Kazdin, and Lauren Effron, "'Zoobiquity': 7 Diseases Animals
Share with Humans," abcnews.go.com, June 12, 2012